Friday’s Mini-Report, 6.17.16

* Iraq: “Iraqi forces advanced into the center of Fallujah on Friday, liberating a majority of the city from ISIS and raising the national flag over a government building, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials.”

* London: “Investigators confirmed Friday they were looking into whether the man suspected of assassinating a respected British lawmaker had ties to right-wing extremists.”

* California: “A wildfire near Santa Barbara continued to grow Thursday and spread deeper into the Los Padres National Forest as crews struggled to find hilltops and trailheads where they could mount a strong defense, officials said.”

* Split the difference? “With Congressional leaders once again at a stalemate over how to respond to a mass shooting, the Senate’s most moderate Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, is developing a compromise measure that would prevent some terrorism suspects from purchasing weapons, while sidestepping partisan flash-points that have doomed similar legislation in the past and threaten to do so again next week.”

* Add retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to the list of prominent Americans urging Congress to approve new measures to address gun violence.

* Speaking of deadly issues Congress would prefer to ignore: “For the second straight year, the Earth sweat through its warmest spring on record, federal scientists announced Thursday.”

* Keep an eye on this one: “Oregon has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to place an open-ended moratorium on oil trains traveling through the state, because preliminary findings of an investigation into the June 3 derailment in Mosier suggest inspectors might not be able to detect the problem that likely caused the crash.”

* Probably a good idea: “Disney is adding signs at its Florida resort warning about alligators after a 2-year-old boy was attacked and killed this week, the company said.”